A woman first in line to the throne? Harper consults on succession changes

British Prime Minister David Cameron has launched a push to rewrite the ancient rules of succession that currently restrict the chances of female royals inheriting the throne.

The issue, to be raised at a Commonwealth leaders’ summit later this month, has been simmering for months in Britain and any changes to eliminate the discriminatory provisions would require a consensus among all 16 Commonwealth nations, including Canada.

According to British news reports, Mr. Cameron has sent letters to each of his Commonwealth counterparts, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, urging an agreement to update the 1701 Act of Settlement to finally end the practice of giving the royal family’s oldest male heir — even if he has an older sister — to become king.

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Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI, because she had no brother.

The issue arose earlier this year in Britain ahead of the April wedding of Prince William and the former Kate Middleton — now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge — because an elder daughter born to the newlywed royals would have to defer to her younger brother once William, expected to succeed Prince Charles one day as king, comes to the end of his own reign.

In his letter to Mr. Harper and the other Commonwealth leaders, Mr. Cameron states: “We espouse gender equality in all other aspects of life, and it is an anomaly that in the rules relating to the highest public office we continue to enshrine male superiority.”

While the Canadian government is now likely to join with Britain and other Commonwealth countries in eliminating gender discrimination in the succession rules, Mr. Harper dismissed the issue as a non-priority for Canadians during the federal election campaign in April.

“The successor to the throne is a man. The next successor to the throne is a man,” Mr. Harper said at the time, referring to Prince Charles and Prince William.

“I don’t think Canadians want to open a debate on the monarchy or constitutional matters at this time,” Mr. Harper added. “That’s our position, and I just don’t see that as a priority for Canadians right now, at all.”

His comments followed the launch of a campaign by a group of British MPs to “modernize” the Act of Settlement to give both women and Catholics equal status to men and non-Catholics in the line of succession.

In January, British Labour MP Keith Vaz told Postmedia News that the Canadian government’s support for reforming the Act of Settlement was “very important” to his bid for change in the British House of Commons.

“It cannot get through without Canada’s support,” he said at the time.

Mr. Vaz, backed by a number of other MPs, had introduced a resolution in the U.K. Parliament to amend the 1701 act by scrapping provisions that prevent Catholics from becoming king or queen, bar anyone who marries a Catholic from the line of succession and give men a distinct advantage in the regal pecking order.

The 2008 wedding of the Queen’s eldest grandson Peter Phillips and his Canadian bride Autumn Kelly — a Catholic-born Montrealer — had also ignited debate around the rules of succession. Before their marriage, the Canadian woman gave up her Catholic faith and converted to the Church of England to preserve her future husband’s 11th position in the line of succession.

That couple’s first child and the Queen’s first great-grandchild — a British-Canadian daughter named Savannah — was born on Dec. 29.

The little girl is currently 12th in line to the throne. But, under the current provisions of the 1701 law, a future little brother would take the No. 12 spot and push his big sister to No. 13.

Mr. Vaz had urged the renewal of a 2008 all-party agreement to amend the law, and in January called on Mr. Cameron “to legislate an end to these outdated, sexist and anti-Catholic aspects of the constitution.”

Mr. Vaz told Postmedia News in January that he had written to Mr. Harper seeking Canada’s formal backing for the proposed reforms.

During the last attempt to change the law, under former British prime minister Gordon Brown, Robert Finch, chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, offered backing for the reform movement — partly, he said at the time, because those pushing for Canada to become a republic would “no longer be able to claim that the monarchy discriminates against Catholics.”

The Monarchist League “supports amending the Act of Settlement in order to modernize the succession rules,” he has stated.

“The Queen has no official religious role whatsoever in Canada, so it really shouldn’t be an issue to allow Catholics to become King or Queen of Canada.”

In February, a nationwide poll conducted by Postmedia News found that Canadians supported the line-of-succession reform efforts by a three-to-one margin.

About 42% of Canadians polled at the time by Ipsos Reid said they would support changes to allow a monarch’s first-born child, regardless of sex, to be the first in line to the throne.

Just 14% said they would keep the rules of succession the same as they are now, with male members of the Royal Family put to the front of the line.